Instructors prepare for emergencies
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

A school safety expert has spent the past two weeks training several groups of educators and other Pleasant Valley School District employees on a system used nationally to manage emergenciesThe final training session was held Oct. 12. The National Incident Management System, developed by the

Department of Homeland Securityestablishes a consistent and efficient approach for all emergency workers. The system sets up a structure, chain of command and uniform language and procedures that help government and public agencies work together in times of disaster.

Although school districts have had emergency procedures in place for decades, recent laws require school personnel to be trained in the national system.

Assistant Superintendent Barbara Davis said an expert was needed, and the district paid $3,500 to bring in Lisa Huard, a Safe Schools coordinator for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

"I felt she was the most qualified person I know to review our procedure and better align it with federal mandates," Davis said. "It's so specialized now that it helps to have someone specialized in it."

Huard became expert in the national system after receiving training as a member of the School/Law Enforcement Partnership Cadre-a committee developed by the state attorney general's office and the Department of Education. The partnership no longer exists due to a lack of state funding, but Huard and others continue to educate state school districts on the national system.

"There is nothing worse than feeling ambiguous about something; there is nothing more stressful," Huard told the final gathering of educators and support staff.

She trained several dozen school district employees at oneday seminars. These groups will make up incident management teams that will be in charge during an emergency.

At the start of the session, Huard asked attendees how many felt completely confident they knew all aspects of school emergency procedures. Only a couple of people raised their hands. Huard assured them that after continually practicing what they'd learn in training, they would be confident in their knowledge.

The group learned the chain of command and lines of communication to follow in an emergency of any type, size, scale or complexity-from a broken gas line, to a police car chase that ends at a school, to a terrorist attack.

Huard, at one time a middle school teacher, said she had worked for a school district that didn't hold regular emergency drills for fear of upsetting the children.

But when students and school staff are well-equipped and trained in what to do in a crisis situation through monthly drills, they feel more secure, she said.

Teachers and administrators are then able to reassure parents. "We have to help our parents understand our schools are trained, and that (their) child is safest at school, not in your individual home," Huard said

Some attending the training session said that over the years the focus on emergency readiness has blurred, having been pushed aside by personnel turnover, lack of state funding and the drive to get students' test scores up.

Huard said the future promises to settle even more responsibility on educators' shoulders, if the last few years are any indication.

She said the district and its employees would be legally liable if an incident takes place at school

and the staff doesn't have a plan to follow. But the district, she said, makes sure that at all teachers are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid, triage and search and rescue techniques.

"They've been very proactive, for the safety of the children and adults on the campuses," she said.

Davis said the district's safety and health coordinator will next have all schools' staff members trained in the national system. She said schools will practice new emergency drills and follow a new record-keeping process.